Recently, the US media has come out with a more interesting news, the future of the US Air Force fleet, the main combat force will be 4 + 1, these 4 are F-16, F-35, F-15EX and NGAD (penetrating air superiority fighter, that is, commonly known as the sixth generation aircraft), the last 1 is the US Air Force's most hated A-10 attack aircraft, the aircraft after replacing the composite wing, will be in service until the 2030s, in this plan, the current world king of air combat F-22 fighter is missing!
Where did the F-22 go and why did it suddenly disappear? U.S. Air Force officials explained that the aircraft will be replaced by NGAD, NGAD fighters will be teamed with F-35 fighters, as the core of the future U.S. Air Force combat force, more than 40 years of F-15EX and F-16 fighters will be a useful supplement, although the aircraft can not be stealthy, but the large bomb load range, can be used as a cheap and efficient fire delivery platform!
The F-22 fighter jet was replaced by the NGAD, the result of technological advances
As far as aviation technology is concerned, the F-22 fighter represents the present, and the NGAD fighter represents the future, for now, the U.S. Air Force still feels good about the F-22 fighter in general, the aircraft is also the most advanced air superiority fighter in the world, the aircraft has the strongest maneuverability and stealth performance, there is still no one in the air battle, even Chinese and Russian fighters, can not easily win.
There are many places where the US Air Force is dissatisfied with it, such as the original design of the aircraft is too compact, the magazine space is too small, it is difficult to accommodate large ground attack ammunition, in addition, the aircraft has less oil, the range is relatively short, which is also a relatively large weakness, the mission often needs to be equipped with aerial refueling tankers, which may bring greater risks; the greater risk is also in the rapid development of the world's anti-stealth technology, China's anti-stealth radar has repeatedly found the F-22 fighter tracks, Also discovered is the Israeli F-35 fighter jets fighting in the Middle East, and if the United States stops developing the next generation of stealth fighters, air superiority may be lost.
China's anti-stealth radar has driven the rapid development of a new generation of U.S. stealth fighters
The development of stealth technology, anti-stealth technology is also closely followed, this dynamic catch-up, so that the past 20 years of a machine tube routine completely bankrupt, the U.S. Air Force's view of the NGAD fighter, there have been a huge change, first of all, it is not a certain fighter, but may be a variety of fighters, these fighters are likely to be a gap of 4-5 years, are according to the actual situation of rapid iteration of the product, the past research and development of a new type of fighter cycle from 20 years to 4-5 years, This puts forward extremely high requirements for the pre-research and accumulation of aviation technology, which is not something that ordinary countries can do.
And the U.S. Air Force has not been clear whether the NGAD fighter is a human fighter or an unmanned fighter, the U.S. aviation community even has rumors that NGAD is very likely to be the world's first UAV fighter, in recent years, with the sensor technology, the improvement of computing power, plus the huge progress of AI technology, the most powerful human beings in the most cutting-edge and complex scene game, completely defeated to collapse, including Go chess, plus games, and even including mankind's proudest ace fighter pilot, AI has proven to humans that where rapid response is needed, humans need to take a back seat.
In the future, human fighter jets and drones will coexist for a period of time, and then drones will unify the country
From the perspective of aviation technology, the new unmanned fighter with high AI will be stronger than any existing fighter, better stealth performance, stronger air combat capability, faster reaction speed, no fear of flight fatigue and death fear, at any time with the best and fastest response, get the operational initiative, from this point of view, F-22 is old, and the US media also reported that the F-16 fighter equipped with AI has defeated the F-22 fighter many times in simulation competitions.
At the current rate of AI development, the days of human withdrawal from front-line combat are estimated to be faster, and drones dominating the sky are not out of reach.